Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.
Athletics-Long jump champion Gayle fails to advance at worlds
Jamaican long jumper Tajay Gayle’s title defence at the World Championships came to an abrupt end on Friday after he committed three fouls in qualification in Eugene, Oregon. The 25-year-old from Kingston had not jumped past 8m this year and reportedly suffered a bone bruise weeks earlier.
Soccer-CAS dismisses appeals by Russian FA and clubs against FIFA, UEFA bans
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday dismissed appeals filed by the Russian soccer federation and four Russian clubs against FIFA and UEFA’s decision to ban them from all competition until further notice following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Global soccer’s governing body FIFA and European soccer’s governing body UEFA decided in February that all Russian teams, whether national or club sides, would be suspended from participation in FIFA and UEFA competitions after the invasion, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.
Athletics-Kerley on fire but Jacobs struggles in 100m heats
American Fred Kerley blasted out a warning that he, and the springy Hayward Field track, are in hot form as he blasted to a 9.79 seconds victory in the World Championships 100m heats on Friday, but Olympic champion Lamont Jacobs looked rusty. Olympic silver medallist Kerley had posted the year’s leading time and a personal best of 9.76 on the same track when winning the U.S. trials last month and he looks well-equipped to surpass that in the semi-finals or final on Saturday.
Tennis-Murray sees signs of progress after grasscourt season ends with Bublik loss
Andy Murray saw signs of progress during an up-and-down grasscourt season which came to an end with a 7-5 6-4 quarter-final defeat to Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik at Newport, Rhode Island on Friday. The 35-year-old three-times Grand Slam winner had reached the semi-finals of the challenger event on grass in Surbiton before defeating Bublik, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios en route to finishing runner-up at the ATP 250 event in Stuttgart.
Griner’s lawyers tell Russian court she was prescribed medical cannabis
Lawyers defending U.S. basketball player Brittney Griner told a Russian court on Friday she was prescribed medical cannabis in the United States for a chronic injury, a Reuters journalist at the courtroom reported. Griner pled guilty to drugs charges which carry a prison sentence of up to ten years after she was detained at a Moscow airport in February carrying vape cartridges with hashish oil.
Cycling-Pedersen wins Tour de France stage 13, Vingegaard retains overall lead
Mads Pedersen claimed his maiden Tour de France win after a strong showing in the 13th stage, a 193-km ride from Le Bourg d’Oisans on Friday. The 2019 world champion won a three-man sprint to beat Britain’s Fred Wright and Canadian Hugo Houle, who were second and third, respectively.
Athletics-U.S. into mixed relay final to set up golden farewell for Felix
The sparse crowd on the opening morning of the World Athletics Championships were given something to cheer on Friday as the United States won their heat in the 4x400m mixed relay, the first track event of the meeting. The U.S. won the event on its introduction in Doha three years ago but failed to live up to their favourites tag at the Olympics, finishing third.
Olympics-Thorpe gets his due 110 years after double gold at Stockholm Games
Jim Thorpe will now go down as the sole winner of the decathlon and pentathlon at the 1912 Stockholm Games, 110 years after the American was stripped of his medals for infringing amateur rules at the time. The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) — the predecessor of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) — deemed Thorpe was not an amateur as he had received payments for making appearances for a North Carolina baseball team before the Olympics.
Athletics-American Felix signs off with 19th worlds medal
Allyson Felix brought the curtain down on her brilliant career by securing a 19th World Championships medal as the United States took bronze in the 4x400m mixed relay in Eugene, Oregon on Friday. Running in her final major championship race before she retires, Felix was cheered on by a sparse home crowd as she took the baton for the second leg, but the 36-year-old missed out on a golden farewell after the United States finished third.
Golf-Australian Smith leads Open, emotional Woods misses cut
Australian Cameron Smith lit up St Andrews in bright afternoon sunshine to lead the British Open by two shots as Tiger Woods’s challenge fizzled out meekly in the second round on Friday. Smith birdied his first three holes and picked up three more shots before sinking a long snaking eagle putt on the 14th green on the way to a flawless 64 that lifted him to 13-under-par.
(With inputs from agencies.)
